I ordered a one ounce size of this fragrance oil. I made a one pound batch of soap. I poured the soap into my little individual bar soap mold. Everything went smoothly could not have asked for a better soap batch.
Love the scent will purchase more closer to spring time.
I placed the soap bars in my container lined with wax paper for the cure time. I wanted to see if this particular fragrance would change the color in the soap. About 2 1/2 weeks later no change was found. I will say too for anyone who recognizes this individual soap bar mold, just know I never have luck with my bars coming out clean. I always find that soap will stick and cause dents, dimples, whatever the word is. So I don't care for this mold for this reason. I did use some Sodium Lactate since I thought it would help with a harder bar. The mold is okay to use if I am doing a trial run.
Here is what I discovered. I was half way through the cure time. The soap actually was still somewhat pliable and not on it's way being rock hard. So as I said earlier I was not happy with this soap in terms of not being in perfect condition coming out of the mold. I decided to make some soap balls for a batch of soap I made that day.
Most people will make up their soap and after they unmold the batch will start making their soap balls. Or at least I find or have read most do. The soap is sticky and it is really a battle to get a nice soap ball. Most of the time it will take another rolling session in your hands to get the little ripples or bumps out.
Here is my suggestion:
* Make your colored soap balls in advance. You know better than anyone the nature of your soap making. If you do quiet a bit of soap design with adding soap balls, take the time to do this in advance.
* The first photo is of the soap as it came out of the mold. As you can see the edges at least for me do not come out clean. If you are thinking of getting one of these molds you might ask around with other soap makers what they think of the mold. Maybe this mold and I are not compatible? You might have better luck?
* I used a little Ginger grater since I only had a few bars to grate.
*As you can see above I made a soap ball. Please notice too that my hand is completely clean. Normally I use gloves when making soap balls, but I really wanted to feel the difference with partially cured soap. I really think this is the way to go. Don't get in a hurry plan out your design and enjoy the process.
* This is the soap that I made incorporating the soap balls. Doesn't look like much here and not very interesting in my opinion.
* This is how my soap turned out below. Perfect soap balls and was extremely easy to cut in my soap cutter. Many people I have come across make their soap balls quickly after they unmold their soap. They also will place their soap balls in a baggie to keep them from starting to get hard. As we all know you cannot cut hard soap very well. I have come to realize that anything is possible if your willing to experiment and see what other options are out there.
Conclusion as I stated before, plan out your needs. Make colored soaps in advance. Leave the soap in bar form while it is curing. I would say anytime after one week, or for me much longer you can still accomplish your goal. The process will be much easier for you and you won't have to handle the soap more than one time. My soap in this photo is in it's curing stage so I have not cleaned up the soap bars as of yet. (Edges are not even and clean).
If you try this method please let me know if it worked for you. As I said I stumbled across this by chance and I think it merits sharing with others.
Thanks for taking the time to read this post. I hope it was helpful in anyway.
God Bless
Debby
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